Proud Irish fall short against Tonga in World Cup

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The journeymen of Ireland, the butt of some pretty lame jokes about their World Cup prospects, came agonisingly close to beating a much-fancied Tonga team laden with NRL personnel, on a night when the tournament came thrillingly to life. Maybe now the Australian nation will tear off its blinkers.

In the self-serving rush to crown Australia champions again, there is bizarre tendency to ignore the nine other nations and importance of developing the wider international game. Headlines such as “Game over - Australia win” and “If we beat England, just send for the engraver” have predictably involved the Australian press nailing